Production Notes
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The idea for "Is It Just Me?" began on June 1st of 2009 at dinner party where JC Calciano met a filmmaker couple who recently made a low-budget genre film for the DVD market. Calciano was inspired by their success to make a film himself.
"I have access to the resources and the people needed to pull it off," he thought. "This summer is going to be slow for everyone in the business because of the economy."
Digging into his trunk of unproduced scripts, "Is It Just Me?" was the one closest to his heart and the most universal in nature. "I wanted to make it because I loved the story and because I haven't really seen a classic romantic comedy with gay characters. It's a romantic comedy about people who just happen to be gay."
The story is about Blaine, a regular guy who just can't seem to find love. He lets his insecurities and pessimism get in the way of opportunity. Calciano draws comparison to the main character, "I’ve found over the years that the physically-focused gay culture can lure you down a lot of strange paths. But ultimately, it all comes down to one thing: everyone wants to find someone special to love passionately."
To help make the film a reality, Calciano recruited long time friend and producer Michael Amato. It was an ambitious undertaking for both of them. According to Calciano, "The goal was to see just how good of a movie we could make, with the best people and the most cost effective way we could without sacrificing quality. Today's tools give filmmakers an incredible arsenal of resources for a 'hands-on' process that never before was possible. I knew that if I had my friend Mike by my side, I was certain we'd pull it off."
The two friends had met during the release of Amato's film "The Curve" in 1998. Calciano was a fan of the film (the thriller generated quite a buzz at the Sundance Film Festival). The two producers bonded and became fast friends.
Calciano knew that the script was producible within a short period of time and with reasonable budget constrains. "I had all the shots in my head and knew that if I kept it simple, I could shoot it within weeks with a small and talented crew."
With that in mind, an ambitious shoot schedule was planned. The two producers then recruited friends to help make the film happen as quickly and economical as possible. They divided their efforts and made a few fundraising phone calls to friends and family. Once the checks were deposited, they decided that their movie was a 'go.'
Cast and crew hires came together quickly. Calciano called upon his crew from the various TV programs he directed and produced, as well as friends who were eager to help with the project. Amato pulled favors from casting directors, steady cam operators, composers, and editors he had previously worked with during his days as head of production for Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures.
The Calciano/Amato pairing was a great complement of talents. Making an independent film is a monumental task in itself, but it becomes feasible if you can work with someone you know and trust. Calciano’s friend and trusted Director of Photography, Joshua Smith, shot the film locally.
They continued to set the script and secure the funds during the ensuing weeks of pre-production. Calciano then said to Amato, "Mike, I want to start filming on the 7th." Amato said, "The seventh of what?" Calciano replied, "Next month... in 4 weeks." The two quickly scrambled to get everything set for shooting in less than a month.
The first call was made to Amato's friend, Mark Sikes. Sikes is an amazing casting director whom Amato had the opportunity to work with on several previous films. Calciano understood the importance of hiring great acting actors, "I'm not making this film unless I have great talent. If I can't cast it in 3 weeks, I'll push making the movie till I have the perfect cast." Sikes smiled and said, "I'll find you your cast." And so he did. Within just three weeks, the cast was set and the camera started rolling within days.
Amato turned to Calciano and asked, "You know, you've never directed a feature before. Do you think you could do this?"; Amato had a valid point. Although Calciano had experience in writing and producing in the past, he had never directed a feature film -- let alone a film in as few days with the challenges that lay ahead. "We'll find out soon enough" was Calciano’s reply. That answer neither satisfied nor pleased Amato. But there was no stopping them now.
The shooting went remarkably smoothly, and they wrapped on budget and on schedule. It was a lot of work, but a great deal of fun. The crew and cast bonded instantly and the whole experience was more fun than work.
Production Manager Julie Le worked relentlessly as their go-to gal. Like any production manager, Le got the most insane requests at the most inappropriate times. Calciano has only praise for Le, "Julie, in a lot of ways, is like the head chef in the White House kitchen. You can ask for the craziest things, but somehow she always has it available and always delivers."
Calciano and Amato also received key assistance from a young Line Producer Aaron Karns. Calciano expresses his gratitude, "I've worked in the business for 25 years, and rarely do I come across anyone with as much dedication, drive, and passion as Aaron. We worked long, hard hours and he was always the first to step in and help, the first to get it done, and the first to ask, 'Is there anything else you need?' Considering the tiny crew we had, the smooth running of the operation was in no small way attributed to him."
One of the film’s true assets lies in the talented cast. Calciano can’t stress this enough, "I was really quite blessed with an amazing cast. I know that everyone says that, but I really believe I got lucky with the actors who came on board. I gave each actor almost no rehearsal time, and we rushed from one set up to the next to make our schedule. All of the actors were such talented professionals. I'd rush to adjust the camera, lights, and sets then start to tell the actors what was going on. They'd smile and say something like, 'Yeah, I got it' – and we'd shoot. And yes, they were right… they got it. We rarely did more than a few takes and moved on to the next scene."
The production shot between 9 to 11 pages of the script per day. Calciano admits, "We hustled big-time to make our days. My goal was to work quick and hard and limit the over time as much as possible. People work very hard on a low budget shoot and I don’t think it's fair to work anyone beyond 10 to 12 hours a day. I was determined to not go over schedule. And for the most part, we didn't. Everything ran remarkably well for the amount of time we had versus the amount of people we had working."
"This film," according to Calciano, "was very much a collaborative effort by a lot of very talented people giving 110% of their creative energies. I was planning on either shooting around the props or just slapping something together, but then artist Crystal Rosas turned to me and said, 'If you’re going to do it, then do it the right way!'" Rosas came on board and generated tons of amazing quality, professional-looking props, boxes, design elements and various other props for the film.
"We could never have pulled off the realism of the film without Crystal," Calciano admits. He's the first to tell you how fortunate he is to have so many people come on board believing in the film. Another professional and friend who insisted that cheap work-arounds were not an option is Special Effects Supervisor Rod Maxwell. Maxwell had cut his teeth on films like "Godzilla" and had written, produced, directed and starred in the award-winning short film called "The Wishing Well." Maxwell read the script and insisted that the FX shots in the movie be done well. Calciano argued, "We have no money, let's just make them as good as we can get them for as cheap as we can generate them." Maxwell, being the perfectionist that he is, decided to donate his time and energy to deliver several intricate FX shots so they seamlessly integrated into the film. "I originally set out to make a small film as an experiment to see what a few of us could pull off with a small budget and a limited schedule. What I got was a fantastic group of filmmakers all donating their time and energies into making something great."
The film was pre-produced and shot in a very short time. Next up the task of editing. Calciano recruited the help of friend and editor Matt Cone to work with him on the assembly of the rough cut. The two took their computers and Final Cut Pro software and put together the film in two weeks. "I pushed for each of us to assemble at least 5 minutes of the film a day. I figured, 10 minutes a day, times 10 days, and we can have it done."
Two weeks later, the film came together -- or at least the assembly edits. Once the assembly edit was done, a job came in for Cone. He had an opportunity he could't pass up so he needed to delay the cut of the film or move on to another project. Calciano couldn't wait, "Once the ball starts rolling, it's essential to keep the momentum alive… I knew we needed to keep pressing on with the completion of this film however we could." Calciano knew he wasn't really an editor and couldn’t finish the film himself, so Amato stepped in to recruit Cynthia Ludwig to make the assembly edit a movie.
Amato states his reason, "We had the film put together, but it wasn't a movie yet. I knew that if I paired JC with Cynthia, she'd bring out his vision in a true cinematic way. Objectivity, pacing, and the ability to amplify and focus a story is the job of an editor. I was confident that if I put JC and Cynthia in a room together, they'd come out with an amazing movie." The director had a strong, unwavering vision when it came to this project, "I wanted the film to look as much as possible like a big studio romantic comedy. I think many filmmakers discount the value of music and sound in a lower budget film. Music just finishes a movie in the most spectacular way."
Calciano called upon his past music video artist friend Crystal Waters for her contribution. He had known Waters back from her hit "She's Homeless," which made her a musical icon. He says about Waters, "I hoped that she'd be available and interested in helping me with this film by contributing her famous music to it, and she was tremendously generous to me."
Other friends and artists also helped with their musical contributions to the film, such as Calciano's friends Luke Andes and Sal Clemente. Andes is an accomplished musician and songwriter. Aside from his contribution to the film as soundman and technician, Andes also wrote the beautiful finale song and provided soundtrack throughout the film. URO (Ultra Sonic Orchestra) leading man Sal Clemente lent his band's name, which appeared as Xander's gift to Cameron in the film, in addition to his fantastic musical talents and songs for the film.
After finishing touches were added, the film really came together in a spectacular way. Producer Amato is sincere in describing the culmination of all their hard work, "I've produced movies for millions of dollars, and I can honestly say that I’m most proud of this film. Considering the resources and time we had to make this movie, I believe it will stand up to the bigger-budget pictures I’ve made in the past."
Director Calciano has warm words and huge appreciation for everybody that had joined the project. Drawing from his own past experiences, he led the team with infectious enthusiasm and unrivaled ease. "When I started in the film business, I worked on a few big films and many small films, and my fondest memories are the experiences I had on small crews where everyone bonded and became a family. Since this was my set, I had tried and hoped to share the same wonderful experiences I had when I was starting off in the business. The movie is really a collection of art, talent, skill and passion by a great many people. My goal was to get a group of friends and artists together to help me realize a vision. I really think we pulled it off. Everyone pitched in and gave so much of their energy to make what I believe is a great little movie. I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative of all the contributions and blessings."
